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Football

Hoover 'stoked' to be an Eskimo

No one told Jordan Hoover he had made the Edmonton Eskimos active roster.

No one had to.

When his cell phone didn't ring by 12 noon on Saturday, the 24-year-old Sault native realized he was a bona fide CFL player.

“It still feels so surreal,” Hoover said in a Sunday interview with The Sault Star. “I've been overwhelmed with emotion and I can barely put how I feel into words. Every time I talk to my mother (Lisa Kenopic), my father (Tim Hoover) or my girlfriend (Mikayla Buconjic), I'm at a loss for words.”

At a 12 noon meeting on Friday, Eskimos training camp hopefuls were told to keep their cell phones on.

“If it rang, it meant they were going to want your playbook and security pass back,” Hoover explained. “They also told us that if your phone didn't ring, then congratulations because you're an Edmonton Eskimo.”

And so, with his phone silent, Hoover entered a Saturday meeting at noon knowing his longtime dream had become a reality.

As of Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern time, CFL teams had to have their active rosters down to 46. As of Sunday, up to 10 practice roster players may be added at any time.

The Eskies begin the regular season this coming Saturday when they visit the B.C. Lions.

A star safety at the University of Waterloo, Hoover was taken by Edmonton in the fourth round (31st overall) of last month's 2017 CFL draft.

While confident he could play at this level, the six-foot-one, 195-pounder admitted not making the team “was in the back of my mind the entire training camp. There were many times when I thought they'd hand me a plane ticket at the end of camp.”

Hoover, who starred for both the Ontario Varsity Football League's Sault Sabercats and the St. Basil Saints high school program locally, explained how difficult the transition was from university football to the CFL.

Using the word “incredible,” Hoover said players would be bused to the field at 6:30 a.m. daily.

After two practice sessions, meetings lasting between four and five hours, and a couple of breaks in between, buses didn't arrive to take players back to where they were staying until 8:30 p.m.

And 14-hour days have a way of adding up.

On Day 1, he remembers thinking to himself: “What am I doing here? They just throw you into the fire.”

Hoover, who recalls being listed as the fifth-string safety when camp opened, said he got burned in drills a couple of times and heard about it from Edmonton coaches.

“But that helped me get better,” he said. “I had to get better very quickly. You had to.”

In the team's first exhibition game against Calgary, Hoover played briefly on special teams and got into two plays at safety.

On his first play, he tracked down a running back who was about to score on a 20-yard run. Hoover said he dove along the sidelines, tackled the player to save a touchdown and forced a fumble.

Edmonton's second preseason game was against Winnipeg.

Hoover started as a member of three of the Eskimos special teams units: punt return, kickoff return and kickoff coverage.

And he played the entire fourth quarter at cornerback.

Going into camp, he was told by a number of people the key to his making the roster lay in his ability to flourish on special teams.

“And so I gave 100 per cent on special teams,” he noted. “I knew that was my ticket to being on this team.”

Knowing special teams are his bread and butter is something he readily accepts, the rookie added.

As for playing defence, Hoover said he believes he's going to be playing corner on the wide side of the field.

Hoover said Eskimos coaches have taken to calling him 'The Tasmanian Devil,' based on his penchant for all-out effort and never giving up on a ball.

It's a label he wears with pride.

Asked what's impressed him about the CFL, Hoover said he believes a lot of people underestimate Canada's pro game.

“It's a lot faster, more competitive and more professional than people think,” he said. “For me to make it is an incredible honour. I've wanted this ever since I was young. I'm stoked. To help put the Sault on the map brings a lot of pride, and I'm just very proud of where I come from.”